Network computing has become increasingly popular. For example, a number of new devices have been introduced for use on a variety of networks from local area networks to the Internet and World Wide Web. The increasing complexity of network communications raises the issue of improved network resource management. For the purposes of this specification, any device or system associated with the network is a "resource" of the network.
Typical network operations are limited to the transmission of electronic mail and the retrieval of data. A variety of standard network protocols and languages have been introduced to communicate over the networks. For example, in an ethernet based system, a protocol called Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is used to transfer information over the network. Some TCP/IP-compatible file transfer protocols have been devised to transfer information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). These protocols allow programmers to create browsers which accept predefined languages, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), however, these protocols and languages were not designed for network resource management.
One effort to define a language for network resource management resulted in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), however, SNMP requires special knowledge to use effectively and lacks certain device management features. A system using SNMP requires a special program executing at the client to perform system management. This program increases the cost and complexity of performing system management. With the proliferation of devices and users on the network there are increasing demands for improved network management of resources.
There is a need in the art for a system for network resource management which is cost effective and requires little or no specialized knowledge to use. The system should communicate using existing network commands and the system should operate with existing client browsers to eliminate the need for additional network resource management software at the client. The system should provide a homogeneous interface to perform network resource management using existing client-based network access software. The system should also be configurable to support nonstandard network resource management operations using existing network protocols and languages.